First Harvest

Less than six months after Boeing and South African Airways (SAA) announced their plans to turn “energy tobacco” into sustainable aviation biofuel, farmers in South Africa’s Limpopo province are harvesting their first crop of a nicotine-free, energy-rich tobacco plant.

Celebrating Engineering at Boeing

Gargoyle Missile

Historical Snapshot

In 1944, McDonnell won the contract to build the radio-controlled, rocket-propelled, air-to-surface Gargoyle missile for the U.S. Navy. The missile was intended to counter German-guided anti-ship glide bombs from carrier-based aircraft. The LBD-1 Gargoyle glide bomb was to be equipped with a 1,000-pound (454-kilogram) armor-piercing warhead.

The Gargoyle's Aerojet solid-propellant rocket booster allowed it to reach a high diving speed. A bright flare in its tail allowed operators to monitor its progress and correct its trajectory by radio. It was 10 feet, 2 inches (3.1 meters) long by 1 foot, 8 inches (0.5 meters) in diameter, with an 8-foot, 6-inch (2.6-meter) wingspan.

Glide tests of the LBD-1 began in March 1945, followed by the first-powered flights in July. The Gargoyle was redesignated as a KSD-1 anti-shipping missile in 1945, but World War II ended before it was deployed. It then became a research vehicle and designated KUD-1, which first flew in July 1946.

McDonnell produced 250 Gargoyles before production ended in mid-1947. The remaining missiles, redesignated as RTV-2 in September 1947 and RTV-N-2 in early 1948, were used to test components for other guided-missile programs. In December 1950, the program was officially terminated and surviving missiles were scrapped.